I Dissent - a review

I Dissent: Ruth Bader Ginsburg Makes Her Mark
by Debbie Levy with illustrations by Elizabeth Baddely
Simon and Schuster, 2016

"Disagreeable? No." "Determined? YES." Whether objecting, dissenting, resisting, or disapproving, Ruth Bader Ginsburg has always done it with passion, with flair, and with conviction. This is her story, from childhood to the present. She has spent a lifetime fighting for the rights of women and minorities - beginning with her refusal to write with her right hand in grade school(she has always been left-handed), and continuing today with her Supreme Court decisions in favor of equal opportunities for women and minorities. The story is compelling; the illustrations have a cartoon-like quality, but are detailed and emotive.

There should be no dissent that I DISSENT: RUTH BADER GINSBURG MAKES HER MARK is a powerful introduction to a determined, successful, and inspiring woman.

Back matter includes:

• More About Ruth Bader Ginsburg
• Notes on Supreme Court Cases
• Selected Bibliography
• Quotation Sources

 

I Dissent is a 2017 winner of the Sydney Taylor Book Award ! 

See the entire list of winners and honor books at the Association of Jewish Libraries website.

Non-Fiction Monday: Sonia Sotomayor

Alas, it's been a busy weekend, and I don't have anything prepared for Non-Fiction Monday, but I encourage everyone to check out this week's host site, Books Together. 

Although I don't have a review prepared, I did check out Atheneum's, bilingual Sonia Sotomayor: A judge grows in the Bronx, written by Jonah Winter and illustrated by Edel Rodriguez (2009).

According to the book jacket, Sonia Sotomayor is a Children's Book-of-the-Month Featured Selection, and and also an Alternate Selection of Mosaico.  Despite these honors and the book's illustrious subject, I found the writing slightly disappointing. Jonah Winter's "familiar" style and does not fit with the lofty story of this hard-working justice from the Bronx.

She was also known for having no patience for lawyers who weren't prepared - you better not mess with Judge Sonia!  Yet she was known for much more than this.

I can't speak as to how the book flows in its Spanish translation.

I did however, enjoy the overall comaprison of Sonia Sotomayor with a tenacious vine that thrives and blooms with care and hard work. The artwork is soft and simple, and accurately portrays Sotomayor's Latina heritage. This is a perfect choice for Women's History Month.

OK, so I guess I did have something for Non-Fiction Monday.  It's amazing what one can accomplish in a lunch hour.

I will be hosting Non-Fiction Monday on April 12th.

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The Presidency and The Supreme Court

Christine Taylor-Butler has two new books on American government, both published by Scholastic in 2008, The Presidency and The Supreme Court.


An advance warning :my review may be slightly biased by the fact that I am a huge fan of governmental literacy in children.


These two short books (each under 50 pages) both follow a similar format. They contain Find the Truth!, Contents, Chapters, The BIG Truth, True Statistics, Resources, Important Words, Index, and About the Author.


Find the Truth! is a challenge and a clever hook to hold the reader's interest. The reader is confronted with two sentences, and advised of the following, "Everything you are about to read is true except for one of the sentences on this page. Which one is TRUE?" The two statements do not reveal any obvious truth, and the average student will need to read on to discover whether or not George Washington was paid to be president. He wasn't. (Although he was offered a sum equivalent to $500,000.00 in today's wages - more than our current president makes!)


The chapters cover the basics of each topic in a manner easily understood by younger readers, "Once he or she takes office, the president is in charge of the country's relations with the rest of the world. The president leads the people when disasters occur. He or she heads the military. The president also makes sure the laws of the United States Constitution are followed."


The Big Truth is a double spread inset. For The Presidency, it's a floor plan of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, noting the facts most interesting to students. e.g., the pool, movie theater, bowling alley and three kitchens. For The Supreme Court, it's The Case of the Close Call - a simple explanation of the Supreme Court's role in the 2000 presidential election.


In addition to Find the Truth! and the easy reading style, these two books are loaded with photos, charts, graphs, maps, and images of paintings realia, and more. All images are captioned, most in red. The majority of the text is in a large, simple font, although numerous sections are highlighted or inset.

If these books don't inspire interest in national government, then nothing will. Hopefully teachers will find and use these books for grades 4-8.

The Nine: Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Court

I had to return my copy of The Nine: Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Court without finishing it. Other customers were waiting for my copy, so I skipped to the last chapter and returned it only a few days overdue. My schedule is too busy to permit me to finish this weighty work within the confines of a library lending period.

Jeffrey Toobin’s book is meticulously researched and documented. It’s a fascinating look at our relatively unknown branch of government. The day-to-day workings of the Court and the interactions between its members are an intriguing topic that I truly enjoyed.

I was however, not disappointed to return the book early and skip the many chapters devoted to the tortuous process that was the 2000 presidential election. In fact, much of The Nine points out the very partisan and political nature of our judicial branch. If you harbor any illusions that the Supreme Court is somehow above the political wrangling of the executive and legislative branches, The Nine will relieve you of them. In that respect, the book was disappointing – not in its writing, but in its message, which is sadly and unfortunately true. That the imposing steps leading to the Supreme Court will soon be closed to the public that they were built to welcome is just another sad commentary on our state of affairs.

Back to children’s literature….